


Watching Over Durin's Sons

by SpontaneousMe



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 17:46:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2820827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpontaneousMe/pseuds/SpontaneousMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fili and Kili were brothers until the end. And longer, because they were both too stubborn to change anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watching Over Durin's Sons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [el_spirito](https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_spirito/gifts).



> To El_Spirito: Okay I was re-reading the prompt the other day and realized this is not even close to what you requested...but I hope you are still satisfied with the result. I enjoyed writing this much more than I thought I would, considering I thought I would be drowning in the brotherly feels. But hey! Merry Christmas, Spirit! Hope you have a fantastic one. 
> 
> Also, to who it may concern: I haven't seen BOTFA yet, so I have no idea how you-know-who do the you-know-what. I've had to make that up on my own. FYI

He is in trouble. This is the first thought that crosses Thorin’s mind when he looks down at the brown tipped dwarfling in his arms. His sister smiles triumphantly, albeit a bit tiredly, from her place on the bed. 

“Isn’t he beautiful?” She questions.

Thorin wouldn’t go so far to say the red, smushed, mini dwarf in his arms is beautiful. But there is something in his features that hint at being good-looking. “Absolutely stunning.” He deadpans.

Dis rolls her eyes, the action softened by the grin carved across her face. “I think he looks like you.” 

“Obviously,” he grunts—but not ungently. “We’re going to have to keep the ladies away from this one.”

Dis opens her mouth to reply, eyes twinkling, but is interrupted by the door. 

Dwalin steps aside to reveal a tired but excited Fili clinging to his arm. His eyes widen comically at the sight of the small bundle in Thorin’s arms. Without hesitation, he clambers up into Thorin’s lap. 

“Careful, Fili!” Dis scolds. 

Thorin shifts enough to allow the extra space. “Aye, he’s fine Dis. Don’t fret yourself, we all know how much beauty rest you need.” 

Dis glares vehemently. “You’re lucky you’ve got both my sons, otherwise I would not be responsible for my actions,” she warns, menacingly.

Thorin chuckles warmly, his attention brought back to his charges. Fili has not moved from his spot on Thorin’s knee. Gently he reaches up to pull back the blanket surrounding his brother’s face. 

“Fili,” Dis supplies, “That is your little brother, Kili.” 

Fili stares for a second. “Kili,” he tries the name. Turning to look at his mother, he asks, “Can I take care of him? Please?”

Dis nods, smiling gently. “I’m sure he would love that.” 

Fili beams, his smile glowing to match his hair. “I am going to be the best big brother ever,” he vows seriously. “I’m going to take him on walks, and go apple picking and—Uncle Thorin! Can you teach him how to use a sword too? I would but I’m not as good as you—Oh! And we can go to the creek and swim when it gets too hot and…”

Aye, Thorin is in deep trouble. Fili is already as tight corset around his finger and he can feel the beginnings of Kili tightening the noose. 

He’s going to need a bigger house.

—

Stubbornness is a Durin family trait. Balin decides this when little Fili ignores his many warnings and climbs from the table onto the counter, to reach one of the fresh apples his mother had picked. The resulting crash and startled sobs shouldn’t have alarmed him, and yet here he was, scooping up the young dwarf in an attempt at comfort. He curses Thorin vehemently and colorfully for roping him into this. The exiled prince will have a miracle to owe him when he’s done here. 

“Da?” A groggy and teeny mumble brings Balin’s attention to the hallway. The quilt had never left Kili’s fist, and it drags behind him as he totters into the kitchen. In his arms, Fili stops crying instantly. 

“Kili, you’re awake!” He shouts gleefully, his pain and fear forgotten as he practically leaps out of Balin’s lap. 

He bounds across the distance with an energy that should not surprise Balin in the slightest. Proudly displaying the apple still clutched in his tiny hand, Fili crows, “I know how to get on the counter now, Kili! Do you want me to get you an apple?”

Kili’s face breaks into a wide grin only the mention of food could bring. He nods vigorously. 

“You’re on your own if you fall again, laddie,” Balin chuckles as the pair race past him. 

“Yes, Uncle Balin!” Fili replies. He’s already pushed the table to the counter and is scrambling up the chair.

Balin knows he should probably be ending this disaster before it starts, but he can’t bring himself to care that much. He knows the only way to deal with the Durin stubbornness is to let it run itself out. Fili and Kili will learn sooner or later. 

Balin has a feeling it’s going to be later, however. 

—

Fili and Kili are most definitely not brothers. Brothers bicker and squabble over the dumbest things. They chase each other around the house and wrestle over who gets to play with the newest toy. They punch one another and push each other off the bed. Brothers blame the other for tracking mud in. Fili and Killi do none of these things. Therefore, Ori decides, Fili and Kili are not brothers. 

They do have similar names, like he and his own brothers, Ori concedes. But they certainly do not act like the other “brothers” he knows. All of the other dwarflings he plays with are proper siblings. They like picking fights with one another and rolling around in the dirt. When Fili and Kili roll in the dirt, it’s not because they hate each other, it’s probably because Kili found a lost arrowhead and he wants to give it to Fili or maybe Thorin. 

To Ori’s young mind, this is simply too much. Brothers just don’t give each other gifts. Certainly not days that aren’t their birthdays. Everyone gives gifts on someone’s birthday, but not on a perfectly normal day. That’s why they were called normal. 

So when Kili marches up to Ori, showing off a shiny, golden apple Fili gave him, Ori can’t help but say with some contempt and a little more frustration, “Fili isn’t your brother.”

The quizzical look on Kili’s face only serves to irritate Ori further. “He is too!” Kili retorts. 

“No, he’s not.” Ori returns, determined to shove this hair-brained thought completely from the Durin’s mind. To his mind, it was utterly disgraceful that everyone let the two live this lie. Dori had always said lying wouldn’t let you into the halls of the fathers. “He’s not your brother and you aren’t his, so get over it!” 

Kili’s face falls dramatically, his eyes wide with tears. “Yes, he is!” The younger dwarf shouts wetly, then he whirls away with a sob. 

The outburst takes Ori aback. The only time he had ever seen that particular expression on Kili’s face was when Fili had taken to the flu, and Kili was told he couldn’t see him. It was clear the little Durin’s heart had been broken in two, and he had been devastated the entire night. 

It was a look Ori didn’t think he wanted to see again.

Fili and Kili may not be brothers, but if they meant so much to each other, perhaps it was best to keep the truth to himself.

—

The Durin family was a messy one, Dwalin thinks, not for the first time. A sister with two sons and a brother who was more of a father to the boys than their own. Oh, that wasn’t fair. Dwain had been an excellent father—for the short time he had been one. It was all the warg’s fault, Dwalin grumbles inwardly. 

He steps into the house, taking in the soft tones and warm atmosphere. A fire crackles and glows softly on the hearth. He hears Dis humming in the garden. Not for the first time, Dwalin was taken back. It felt he was entering his home as a young boy, not the dwelling of their leader and exiled King. 

“Dwalin, while you’re in there, hand me the poppy seeds?” Dis’ merry voice carries through the kitchen window. 

After a short search, Dwalin finds his query and pokes his head out of the open window. “For a small price,” He ventures, a grin tugging on his lips. 

Dis snatches the packet from his hand before he can blink. “The muffins are in the oven,” she replies warmly as she turns back to the garden. Dwalin's gaze shifts to the brick hearth in the corner, where a tantalizing scent made itself known. 

He feels his mouth watering. 

As if reading his thoughts, Dis adds with a chuckle, “But wait this time, dear friend. Last time you nearly burnt your tongue off.” 

“Your wisdom grows daily, Dis of the Durin folk.” 

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Grinning, she gently slaps his arm with a basket as she passes the window. Stepping away from the opening, he holds the door open as she sidles in. 

“May I help?” He asks. 

“You can wait by the fire,” She suggests as she lays her crop on the table. “You’re no help when it comes to kitchen work, and you know it.” 

Dwalin chuckles. “You know can I clean my dishes on my own.” 

“Aye, with your tongue.”

His bark of laughter bounces off the walls. Dis chuckles in spite of herself, her eyes twinkling madly. 

The front door slams, jarring their attention from the food. “Kili?” Dis queries authoritatively, “Kili, what have I told you about the door?”

The tiny dwarf ignores her and tears into the kitchen, his face streaked with tears. Dwalin watches as Dis’ face transforms from amused contentment to worried concern in the blink of an eye. She forgets the carrots and kneels as her son throws himself into her arms, sobbing. “What happened?” She asks softly. 

Dwalin lowers himself onto his heels beside her. It isn’t often Kili’s cheerful atmosphere is so blatantly shattered, and it worries him. “Kili, what’s wrong?” 

Kili hiccups into his mother’s shoulder. “Ori said Fili isn’t my brother!” He cries, curling into his mother’s form more tightly.

Dis glances up at Dwalin, her eyes betraying her astonishment. “Oh honey, that isn’t true,” she murmurs into Kili’s dark locks. 

Dwalin’s heart pangs a little. Both mini Durin’s held a special place in his heart. But despite what he usually denied, out of the two, Kili had the older dwarf wrapped around his finger. It almost physically pained Dwalin to see the dwarfling hurting. 

But it calms him to know that this particular bout of distraught was—however displeasing—unfounded. 

He clears his throat. “No, Kili,” Curse the All-Father! Why did his voice have to be so gruff? “Ori didn’t mean that.” He continues, “You know the lad mostly spends time with the dwarves his age. They’re vastly different compared to you two.”

Kili’s eyes widen, horrified. 

Dis glares at him. “I think what Uncle Dwalin is trying to say, Kili, is that you and Fili are so much like brothers that Ori doesn’t know what to think about it.”

“Aye,” Dwalin hastily agrees. This is why Balin is the dwarfsitter, not him. “There isn’t a pair of dwarves in the Blue Mountains who are as good as being brothers as you two are.”

Kili’s face breaks into a blinding grin. Coupled with the shiny streaks on his cheeks, it makes for a strange sight. “Really?”

Dwalin nods sagely, “cross my heart.” His fingers trace an “x” over his chest against his bidding, but he doesn’t think he minds too much.

Without warning, Kili leaps from Dis’ lap and throws his arms around Dwalin’s neck. “Thanks, Uncle Dwalin!” He practically shouts in Dwalin’s ear. 

Dwalin is taken back for a second, but he doesn’t hesitate to hug the dwarfling back. “Aye,” he mumbles, ignoring Dis’ knowing smile. 

“Kili, why don’t you show Uncle Dwalin what you built today?” She suggests with a grin on her face. Then, more directed to Dwalin than to Kili, “Afterwards, you can have a muffin.”

If at all possible, Kili’s face glows even brighter. “Yeah!” He crows. “Come on, Uncle Dwalin, you’re gonna love it!” 

Dwalin shoots a withered glare in Dis’ direction, but she’s already retreated to the kitchen. Cursed woman, he thinks. Just like her to abandon me.

Kili grabs his hand, babbling on and on about some nonsense, Dis chuckles in the background, and the promise of muffins hangs in the air.

It’s with a start that Dwalin realizes that, yes, the Durin family is a messy one. But inexplicably so, he’s found himself part of this mess. 

He doesn’t think he wants it any other way.

—

It’s raining. A downpour, really. It’s quite horrible. 

Gloin shivers under his cloak. The company had been riding for several hours now, and the clouds showed no sign of letting up. Oh how he longed for a warm hearth, his son on his lap as his wife sang in the kitchen! Gloin sighs deeply. Alas, even if he were home, Gimli is too old to be sitting on laps and his wife too dead to be doing any singing. 

His reverie is shattered when, from behind him, comes a great whoop. Glumly peering out from beneath his hood he sees the source of such commotion. Kili, the loon, is charging up the line, his pony tossing it’s head with the same maniacal energy of it’s rider. Clutched in his hand, Kili has a brown cloak. From the furious shouts Gloin has but one guess as to whose cloak it is. 

“Come on, Fili!” Kili crows triumphantly, “Its not like you need it anyway!” 

“Aye, but I do!” Fili retorts. “I need it so I can whip it across your backside!” 

As Kili tears past him, Gloin can’t help but think what a mercy it is that Gimli is not here to join them. Ai, what a disaster that would be!

Kili whips his mount around, dangling his prize just out of his brother’s reach. Fili growls in frustration. “Give it to me now, brother, and you may still have hands.” 

“Kili!” Thorin’s irritated bark echoes over the river. 

Kili’s face falls—just a little—disappointed that his game has been brought to an abrupt end. With one last flourish, he tosses the cloak high up in the air, directly over Fili’s head. Fili strains to catch it before the sopping mess smacks him in the face. He succeeds, but only partly. Instead, it slaps his mount’s eye.

The pony shrieks in pain and surprise. He stumbles and loses his footing on the treacherous ground. With a cry, Fili leaps from the saddle as the pony stumbles into the rushing river. Collective cries of horror and surprise erupt from the company as the pony disappears from view, only to pop up farther down the river. 

“We’ll lose him!” Comes the cry from Dori.

Gloin is transfixed on the pony as it struggles to swim against the racing current. So much so, that he doesn’t notice the blue blur race past him until Kili is already diving into the river.

Thorin loses what calm he may have had. “Kili! No!”

But its already too late. Kili has already reached the pony, and is slowly leading him out. 

No one notices the log until it is too late. But Fili notices, and jumps in after his brother disappears with a sharp crack. 

In the end, it takes most of the Company to pull the two free. By then Kili is barely breathing and has a large gash on his temple. Fili is shivering, both from the cold and from fear for his brother. And Thorin is as white as an elf. 

Kili wakes up long enough to ease Fili’s mind and to calm Thorin enough to where he can yell at the both of them again. 

By morning, Gloin thinks, everything will be back to normal. Or as normal as things can get. 

He hopes that one of them will grow a little common sense before this journey is over. This is just a foreshadow for disaster, he suspects. 

—

Fili and Kili were brothers until the end. Bofur is alone when he comes to this realization. He stands before the two bodies, both of their faces covered by the golden shrouds of Erebor. 

They had battled valiantly, the son of Thranduil had told him. They battled together.

Aye, they did. Bofur thinks. They would have had to, because they would not have known any other way. 

Kili was the first to stumble, an ill-timed blow to his already injured leg bringing him down. With his cry of pain came a cry of fury. Fili leaping to his brother’s aid, his golden mane shining like the dawn, a wisp of sunlight brighter than any gold in all of Erebor. 

They had fallen together. 

Bofur didn’t see it happen. He never saw the fateful blows that finally stilled their limbs and stopped their hearts. He only saw the aftermath. Two cold bodies amidst a sea of blood. Two hands clasped in one last embrace. Two faces, somehow remaining peaceful among the agony of the dead.

It was a good way to die, he thinks. Not that they would have had it any differently.

It takes years before Erebor is completely rebuilt. Even longer until the battlefield is cleared and Dale is flourishing once again. 

Bofur doesn’t stay to watch it heal. But thankfully, he is not the only one to leave. Balin and Ori set off for Moria, unable to bear the sight of Erebor without it’s king. He understands their pain, only he cannot bear to live in a place that should have two rascals ruining it’s ordered peace but does not. 

He wanders back to the Blue Mountains. He settles down, but not in the same town as before. That village holds too many memories and not enough Durins. No, he travels farther south, until he eventually stops in a quaint little village and meets a sweet dwarf. She gives him reason enough to stay, and stay he does. They marry and start a new life. 

He carves more toys and trinkets than ever before, losing himself in the art and drawing dwarflings from all over the village into his home. 

Bofur tells them stories. Stories of valor, mischief, reckless foolishness. Stories of gold and dragons and elves. Mostly, he tells them of Fili and Kili. The dwarflings eat up the stories of the troublemakers, probably seeing a little of themselves inside. It makes him smile when they beg for more.

He lives a long and happy life. 

But as he knows all too well; all lives draw to an end. One night, he goes to sleep with his wife’s cooking in his stomach and a smile on his lips. He wakes to laughter, and two young dwarves who simply can’t wait to show him around. 

Kili mentions something about his story being completely inaccurate, but finishes with a good-natured yelp when Fili slaps him upside the head. 

Bofur grins, letting them lead him off into the distance. 

Fili and Kili were brothers until the end, he thinks. And longer, because they were both too stubborn to change anything.

**Author's Note:**

> To be perfectly honest, this is more of a first draft than anything else. Time got away from me, but I had enough to make some quick adjustments before I posted. And yes, I know Ori is too OOC and my grammar is altogether atrocious, but I hope to revise a bit in the coming days. Ye have been warned. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, anyways, folks. Toodles!


End file.
